Frankenfoods, Reveal Yourselves!

If passed, California’s Prop 37 will require companies to label foods made with GMOs.

“These are the same
companies that told us DDT and Agent Orange were safe,” she says. “We
have to point out to the California voters who we are up against and
that they cannot be trusted.”

What is in your food? In California, a new ballot initiative may give
consumers the power to demand a clear answer to that question.Proposition 37,
also known as the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food
Act, would require companies to label foods made with genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) and bar them from describing these foods as
“natural.” In order to place the initiative on the ballot, the
California Right to Know campaign collected approximately a million
signatures in a 10-week period.
Though the health effects of GMOs in humans have not been studied long-term,
some scientists say that tests on animals show cause for concern.
“Consumers have a fundamental right to know what is going into their
food,” says California Right to Know
spokesperson Stacy Malkan. “For too long corporations have left
consumers out of the equation. We’re bringing them back into the
discussion and giving them true choice.”
Though 50 countries have passed some sort of GMO labeling law, the
United States has not, and the only U.S. state to have done so is
Alaska, which requires labeling on fish and shellfish.
Attempts at label laws have failed in 19 other states in the face of
well-funded opposition campaigns. Supporters of the California
initiative have reason to remain optimistic, though, as a recent poll
shows 70 percent support.
Despite public approval, the road to passage will not be easy. The Big Food industry has already begun an aggressive campaign to oppose the initiative.
Makers of household food products, such as Campbell Soup and General
Mills, have raised more than $10 million to defeat Prop 37. Another $15
million has come from Big Agro companies such as Monsanto, which
increases profits by patenting GMO seeds.
Malkan hopes California voters will see past the flashy ad campaign
this fall and recognize the hidden agenda of these companies.
“These are the same companies that told us DDT and Agent Orange were
safe,” she says. “We have to point out to the California voters who we
are up against and that they cannot be trusted.”
The Prop 37 vote on November 6 will be a showdown between corporate
money and grassroots organizing, and the success or failure of the
initiative will have a strong impact on future labeling efforts,
including one currently underway in Oregon.
“This is one of the most important issues we’re facing,” says Malkan.
“This is an opportunity to restore power to the American consumer and to
grassroots democracy.”